For a media only budget HTPC, I would recommend the NVIDIA SHIELD TV, which has replaced my previous custom budget HTPC build.

At this price point, I can’t build a custom budget HTPC that is as versatile and powerful as the NVIDIA SHIELD TV.

NVIDIA SHIELD TV does everything I wanted a budget HTPC to do, and it’s much smaller.

In order to store your media files, I would recommend getting an external hard drive enclosure and 1 to 6 TB Western Digital Blue hard disk.

Please note that SHIELD TV is a bit too underpowered to act as a media server for more demanding users. If you are looking for a media server that will also transcode your files and serve multiple users, I would recommend having a look at my Value HTPC or Performance HTPC build.

The following components have been tested and proven to be compatible in my test bench.